


The Line That Separates Popularity and Actual Friendship

by orphan_account



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Fluff, M/M, Soccer AU, Underage Drinking, sort of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-10
Updated: 2015-08-23
Packaged: 2018-04-13 22:20:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4539549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Their first kiss ever is on a mountain on New Year's day, completely finishing a bottle of cheap wine that they stole from a party, trying to stay warm in each other's embrace, and not paying attention to the fireworks but rather to how the other's lips feels on theirs and how good it feels to finally be in each other's arms, and how everything is just completely perfect.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've been working on this since June? I actually have a second chapter almost complete uhh.... Anyways enjoy?????

The town that Dirk Strider chose to move into was among the rich. Each house was quite similar, being utterly huge, having a grand driveway with a double garage, and being surrounded by a neat, green lawn. Dave was utterly confused as to why Dirk would choose such a place, but Dirk just laughed it off every time he would ask about it. Rose didn't honestly know what to think about the strangely large neighborhood, and she kept her opinions to herself.

They had moved in two days ago, a month before school officially started, the summer's heat reaching its peak. It was hot and humid, sweat being terribly gross to clean off—especially for Rose and Dave. The summer was the season Dave least liked, for it was too hot, and the scenery was not the greatest. He enjoyed the cooler seasons like the fall and the spring. In the fall, the leaves would change into warm colors, despite the coolness of the air, and in the spring, the plants start to bloom colorfully from the previous dead season of winter. The summer never got the affection of Dave—except for when he was younger—, for the cold seasons had very nice sunsets to them. The two Striders and the one Lalonde love the sunsets that Dave takes pictures of.

But alas, the summer still goes on, without the beloved sunsets, and a welcoming party is being thrown for the new residents of the neighborhood. The party is located outside a golf clubhouse—which Dirk thought was an actual club at first, only to be embarrassingly corrected by Rose—with a grill for everyone and a bounce-house for the children. Dirk drives Dave and Rose to the clubhouse, only because he wants the food. He could honestly care less about his new neighbors.

They arrive in their usual getup; Dirk wearing his white polo and shades, Rose wearing her regular purples and blacks and spikes, and Dave in his ironic 'cool' clothes. The neighbors eye them suspiciously, for they are quite out of place, until a loud and bubbly man speaks up and walks towards them.

"And you must be the Striders! Fancy to meet you all. I'm Jake English, living right next door to you." He holds his hand out to Dirk, and Dirk gives him a firm handshake (to which Rose whispers to Dave in a comical voice, "Firmly grasp it!" and has Dave making strange faces in order to abstain from laughter).

"Well, the kid and I are Striders. The lady goes by Lalonde. She's living with us only until she graduates," Dirk replies.

"I'll make sure I don't forget the young Ms. Lalonde! But I'm not quite sure I remember your name, good sir."

During the entirety of their guardian's conversation with Jake, Rose and Dave talk among themselves, standing off to the side.

"Well, now I know who Bro's gonna be bringing home today," Dave quietly says to Rose from under a tree, shading himself from the heat of the sun.

"Let's make a bet."

"Details."

"I think it will take Jake approximately two months before he actually realizes his affections for Dirk. Another month before he actually agrees to sleep with him."

"I think it'll take them a month to date. They'll bang on the day he realizes that Bro's flirting with him. Twenty bucks."

They've done this before, and one of them is bound to be correct, according to all of their previous bets. So they shake on it and return to Dirk, who is now getting a Pepsi from a cooler.

"No! Come on. You guys go hang out with the teens. Go. Scram."

"Bro. Have you even seen them? Look, this isn't even cool," Dave whines.

"Rose, there's a group of girls over there. You're pretty gay. Go over there."

"Dirk, _please_."

"Bro, it was an incredibly awful idea to move here. One. We are all gay as hell. No one here seems like the type of person to even _look_ at a rainbow. Two. Have you seen the guys over there? I didn't think that good-boy hair was even a thing. And the other hair style with the spike in the front that makes it look like your hair, but backwards? Also, what's with everything being _Nike_ -"

"Dave. Rose," Dirk says in a stern voice that makes Rose and Dave gulp. "If I don't see you talking to at least one of them today, you'll have puppets haunting you for the rest of your life, so help me god. Now, shoo."

Sure enough, they scramble away because they know that Dirk always sticks to his word, no matter what.

It's quite intimidating.

They walk over to the other teens and get strange looks, and Dave inwardly laughs. He has is normal blank face, and Rose is smiling politely, but it's somewhat passive-aggressive. They're all sitting in the shade of a tree, chattering away, and Rose really wants to roll her eyes and puke, but she resists the urge and speaks up instead.

"Hello everyone. My name is Rose, and this is Dave. We have been forced against our will to talk to you all. We will be leaving now. Goodbye."

She turns around to see Dirk standing a good distance away and watching the two of them. She nods at him and lays a hand on Dave's shoulder, and they walk away.

"Dude, Rose. That was so cool."

Dirk looks at them, shakes his head, and goes back to talking. Rose and Dave fist bump, then set themselves in lawn chairs that Dirk brought.

Meanwhile, Dirk chats idly with some of his new neighbors. They bore him to death, but he was the one that chose the location, so he's going to deal with it. He actually isn't prepared for some of the questions they ask. He makes up a bunch of bullshit answers, and the lady he talks to looks at him like he's a saint. She goes back to talking to her friend as he excuses himself from them.

It was probably a really bad idea to move into this town.

He quickly walks inside the clubhouse to go to the restroom, but when he opens the door, he completely rams into Jake, sending them both to the ground.

"Ow, shit. _Jake_? Oh fuck, I'm so sorry. Goddammit. Here, let me help you up."

Jake takes his hand, and helps himself up. "It's quite alright, mate. You've got a lot of muscle on you! You have any tips?"

You see, if Dirk was currently a teenager, he'd be blushing his ass off. But he is not blushing his ass off, for he considers the age of twenty-five to be a grown-ass adult.

"Usually, I just sword fight my brother. Not really anything else. Sometimes, I'll participate in the occasional triathlon, but that only happens, like, once every other year."

"Wow! A triathlon? Dirk, that's _incredible_ ," Jake says.

Dirk tells him about the previous marathons he had participated in, and about the one he was doing this year. Jake is utterly fascinated, but Dirk is just showing off.

They go on talking for another hour, until Rose and Dave walk in, telling them that the party's over. They help clean up, Dirk takes the extra food, and they drive off to their new house.

"So," Rose says, directed towards Dirk.

"What?"

"Did you get his number?"

She earns a half-assed flick to the head, and Dave holds in a laugh.

-

Now, a boy named John Egbert had always lived in this oddly large neighborhood. There were always people coming and going, and he never got close to any of them—they were always either too old or too young, and if they were the same age as him, they were boring. So why would he have to go to this welcoming party? He tells his dad this, and his dad leaves for the party while John stays home watching Netflix. He always considers this a victory.

John had already learned everyone's last names in the town, where they lived, and that they were all boring. They all acted the same and talked the same, and their lives are so cliché and just plain boring. They were all very trustworthy, yes, but they trusted John more than they needed to. He tends to take advantage of this. He always acts polite in front of everyone, he has straight A's, and he's probably considered the most amazing person ever. People at his school adore him for being the best player in every sport, and he considers himself good at piano and magic tricks.

The problem is that he hates basically everyone. He's always polite, but that's just an act. He's always frustrated when he gets home, saying there's no one who thinks like him and everyone's the same. No one can see through his fake life, even though he should be enjoying it.

He had always wanted to have a friend that knows him truly; a friend that would admire him for his incredibly amazing pranks, listen to his endless streams of improvised piano, and maybe just sit back and comment on movies.

He goes on a 'friend hunt' every year, to see if anyone new can possibly be an actual friend. It's kind of a shitty thing to do, he'll admit, but every previous year's friend hunts have failed, and he always gives up. He tells himself to not give up this year, to keep trying.

It was because of this that he started an early summer friend hunt and went on one fateful walk.

-

Dirk makes a chore list for the house, and Dave was designated to mow the lawn this week. It's hot as the fires of the deepest prison cell in hell, but he's topless, rocking out his new pair of headphones. He would say he looks like a stereotypical cool guy, but the looks he gets from his disappointed, angry neighbors tell him otherwise. He awkwardly trudges back to his front door and yells at Rose to get him a shirt. He begrudgingly shoves the shirt on and walks back to the lawn mower. But then there's a guy resting his arms on the white picket fence.

He looks about Dave's age, and with an incredible tan skin tone and gorgeous dark hair. And his eyes are the color of sapphire which Dave can tell, despite the distance between them, and they twinkle in the light of the sun. Dave tries his best to not stare at him, but the kid is already staring at him with a type of smile that Dave can't put his finger on. He doesn't know if he can trust that beautiful face.

You, as the reader, know that this is obviously John Egbert. Dave doesn't. The reason for John's little smile is that he feels as if Dave is different than the other high schoolers in town. He's tall and muscular, his skin almost a light tan, but not quite, and his hair is two-toned, colored artificial red and a natural black. He has a pair of shades on, and John can't really tell what look Dave's going for. But he's different, and that is exactly what John wanted in a friend.

"Hey, you new here? What's your name?" John asks.

"Yes. Dave. Yours?" Dave replies simply. He simply cannot lose his cool, especially in front of an incredibly cute boy.

"John," he says.

They stare at each other for a few seconds.

"Nice to meet you, Dave."

Then he walks away.

Dave doesn't really know what to do with that conversation, and he goes back to mowing.

After this not-so-eventful meeting, John feels as if Dave can possibly be new best friend material.

Dave, on the other hand, stays up that night, wondering if he'll ever see those sparkly, mischievous eyes.

He shoves his face into his pillow, and forces himself to go to sleep.

-

The school's opening night comes up soon enough for Rose and Dave. They're in the same grade; they aren't siblings, but cousins of the same age. The air is hot, for it is still summer, the sun is about to set, and anyone can tell that it's going to be a hot evening, even though the sun will be hidden.

The new junior students get a tour of the school from one of the staff members; Dave isn't paying attention at all, and Rose is listening diligently. Or is she faking? No one can really tell with Rose. Neither of them wanted to go to the opening night, but Bro somehow convinced Dave to drive there.

They're brought to their homeroom, and the teacher gives them a small presentation. Dave still isn't paying attention to what's happening at all. He hears the door open and shut quietly, so he turns around to see who it is because he has nothing better to do. He looks at the person who walks in and, of course, it's John. Who else would it be? They lock eyes for a moment, and John grins and sits down beside him, getting looks from other students.

"Hi," John says, cradling his head in his arms on the desk beside Dave.

"Sup."

They sit in silence for five minutes. John stares at Dave, while Dave pretends to listen to the teacher.

"Okay. What do you want," Dave whispers sternly to John. John has that mischievous gleam in his eyes once again.

"I know that you're not paying attention. So, let's ditch and find the playground."

Dave considers this for a moment and then taps Rose's shoulder to get her attention.

"We're gonna be ditching, so when you're done here, just text me."

"Dave, this isn't even technically school yet. Actually, just. Go and have some fun." She winks at him, and he glares at her. John has absolutely no clue what's happening.

He's just _really_ excited.

He leads Dave out of the room and into the hallways, pointing to places he'll be having his classes in, and Dave thinks that John is a better tour guide than the one staff member. They walk through the building, past hundreds of lockers, and finally get to one of the doors to the back of the building. John pushes the door open for Dave and leads the way to the playground.

The elementary, middle, and high schools are all in the same general area, and John has gone to each one of them. He memorized the whole place and has his own secret hangout places for when he ditches class or is tired of everyone. But he'll show Dave the secret places later. Maybe. For now, he has a playground to get to.

It might take a while to reach the place, so John tries to start some small talk.

"So."

"Yup."

It doesn't work out too well! They continue walking, and a couple seconds later, Dave is the one to talk.

"So. How long have you lived here? You seem to know this place pretty well."

"Oh! Well, I'm pretty sure I was born here. I live with my dad, and we've never really gone anywhere else. How about you? Where are you from?"

"Texas. I live with my brother and cousin." John motions him to tell more, and Dave complies. "My brother is a puppet freak, my cousin is… probably into witchcraft, and I am left to clean up their shit. I am the middle child, a.k.a., the shit cleaner.

"My bro taught me how to be 'cool,' and I'm pretty sure he did it for kicks. I was somehow popular at my school before—can you fucking believe it—and when I told him, he would just laugh? I literally had girls clinging to my arm, right? He thought this was absolutely hilarious for some reason. Oh yeah, he also told me to join the football team, and that year we got in first. Gold cup and everything. They gave me the MVP award. It was really boring, but I didn't know what else to think of it, and that's kinda when my cousin, Rose, moved in. You saw her; the creepy one with white hair wearing black. "

They reach the playground and sit down in one of the tower things.

"You still want me to keep going?"

John just nods frantically.

"So yeah, Rose moves in because her sister started college, blah blah blah. She was probably my first cool friend, but then we got really close 'n' shit. She's generally cooler than any other person you'll meet, but she always picks at your brain, so I don't recommend being near her alone. Don't even think about lying to her because she can see right through your soul and she'll send demons to possess you for the rest of your life—Wait. Why am I telling you this?"

Dave means this as a completely sincere question, but he's completely ignoring the fact he sure as hell knows the answer to it. He also knows he already has a bit of a crush on the boy, thinking about him every day since he mowed the lawn, and he rambles around cute people, but he quickly shoves that thought down.

John takes this as a cue to talk.

"Well… Okay I'll tell you. I'm kinda super popular at this school? But I really don't like anyone at all. I like to go on friend hunts—I know it's shitty, don't give me that look!—I know it sounds really really really shitty, but you're different from the rest of them. You seem really cool! And I want to be. Your. Friend. Yep."

That was not the answer Dave was expecting, and John looks like he didn't want to even be giving this answer.

"So you figured me out after like, one meeting?"

"Not really? I kinda want to hang out, maybe, and learn more about you." John shoves his face in his hands. He didn't want to have this talk at all.

Dave seems to notice this.

"Oh fuck, don't be embarrassed or anything. I kinda get how you feel. I'd love to be your friend, dude. Just tell me about you."

John moves his hands from his face.

"Okay. Um, I've lived with my dad my whole life; I'm pretty sure my mom died when I was born. My dad taught me everything I know; how to be a gentleman, cooking, piano, and all that fun stuff. I play soccer and sometimes baseball at school, but I don't like practices. I'd rather sit at home and watch movies, right? Oh yeah! I absolutely love movies. Old shitty movies? I love 'em. I also really like to do magic tricks and pranking people. One time I filled up a teacher's desk with silly putty and got this guy I hate in trouble. Oh! And another time there was this one asshole bothering a really nice girl, so I filled up a cup with glitter and put it in his locker so that the glitter would fall on him. When he opened his locker, all he saw was 'bitch' written on the cup and—Boom!—glitter everywhere!"

John keeps going on and on, and Dave has never paid more attention to a person in his life. Eventually they both start talking about new movies and video games. Dave is very much enjoying himself (for romantic reasons and otherwise), but then John asks the dreaded question.

"Why are you still wearing your sunglasses? It's getting pretty dark."

Usually, Dave wouldn't tell why. But John is pretty cool, so he just blurts it out.

"You saw how Rose has white hair? She's albino."

"I thought it was bleached."

"Yeah, everyone thinks it's bleached. Anyways. It somehow kinda runs in the family, but Bro and I don't have it. We just have kinda fucked up eyes."

He pushes his shades to his forehead and looks at John.

"His are orange, mine are red. People are usually scared of them and it's hilarious."

"Dude, that's so cool. Also, why do you call him Bro?"

"He told me to," he shrugs.

John looks at him, completely confused, and Dave is about to say something else, but he gets a few texts from Rose, saying that the thing is over. He mentally curses Rose over and over, but then he realizes it's time to get John's number.

"Aw, shit. I gotta leave. Do you have a phone or something?"

They do trade numbers, and Dave considers it a silent victory. John is just super pumped.

They walk back to the school and into the parking lot where Rose is waiting with the keys. They say their goodbye's and part to their respective cars.

"So," Rose says in a voice that Dave can tell is about to make fun of him.

"Oh _god_ no."

"Did you get his number?"

Dave sighs and starts the car, nodding his head. "Yeah... Yeah, I did. But I can't tell if he's a no homo type of guy. What about you? I saw you eyeing that tall chick. You know what? She's really your type. I've never seen anyone pull off green lipstick so well. She has that 'I take bloody revenge on anyone who gets near me' vibe. She can probably join you when you summon demons or whatev-"

"Dave, if you say another word, I will hypnotize John to rip out your penis."

He shuts up. He also wonders how Rose knows John, but knowing her, she probably knows the whole school and everyone's weaknesses by now.

"Ah. I know of John because of how much the other students talk about him. 'I wonder if he'll finally ask me out!'" Rose says in a mocking tone. "'What if he gets his hair cut? He'll probably still look cute!'" She continues.

Dave lets out an amused snort, and Rose gives him a confused look.

"Dude, you don't understand. He literally hates _everyone_."

She snorts. "That explains why their statements were so… vague and impersonal."

When the two get home, Dirk and Jake are standing on the sidewalk. Dirk looks like he's showing off one of his better swords—he actually does have nice ones, but spends more of his money on the shittier type.

Dirk _is_ in fact doing this, and Jake is completely amazed. He tells Jake about how expensive they were, and how high the quality is. Rose and Dave walk inside, rolling their eyes so hard that Dirk can feel it from the sidewalk.

Jake doesn't seem to notice, however, and shows off some of the guns he brought.

"Heh. These aren't the only guns you need to woo me."

"Well, I do have some antiques at my place!"

Dirk, in his own imagination, is punching himself repeatedly. Jake's completely oblivious to flirting. It's pretty cute. But not cute enough ignore the frustration that builds up inside of him.

They're both then cut off by Dave swinging the door open, looking like he'd been through war.

"Dirk," he says, clearly trying to scream at the top of his lungs. "Please fix the laundry machine, holy shit. Please help. I'm so done. I'm locking myself in my room forever."

Dirk looks at Dave, and then back at Jake, who seems quite confused.

"Uh. Yeah, I'm also into mechanics. Also robots. I make robots. But this seems to be really urgent, so I guess I'll see you around?"

"Sure!"

When he gets inside, he goes straight to the laundry machine, where Rose and Dave are talking among themselves.

"What happened to you two?"

"Bro, he has a girlfriend."

"Oh god, what? No, shit _fuck_." He goes on full panic mode, but then Rose interrupts with a flick to Dave's forehead.

"Dirk, listen to me. Dave is being an asshole. We are not aware if Jake is in any relationship at the moment. The laundry machine is broken right now, so please, fix it. There is water _all_ over the ground."

It takes a while before everything connects, and finally Dirk says, "Dave. Puppet therapy for a month."

Dave runs into his room, screaming.

-

Jake walks back home—he lives right next door—and flops on the couch. Jade walks over and sits on the ground next to him.

"Are you alright, Jake?"

He sighs.

"Well, I don't suppose I know… Say, Jade, what's it like to be in love?"

She shrugs.

"I've never really been in love! Why? Do you like someone?"

"I think so. I've known him for quite a while, and I feel as if I'm developing feelings for him. But I'm not quite sure! I don't even know if he'll want me also."

"Well, I _guess_ you just have to be patient. Don't rush into anything like relationships or trying to understand your feelings. Because feelings are gross and weird."

"Huh. I've never thought of it from that angle! Thank you, Jade, for being the brightest step-sister ever known to mankind!"

"I think that's a bit of a stretch, but you're welcome!"

They sit in a comfortable silence, as Jake tries not to think about Dirk or his mixed up and weird feelings for him. He decides to fall asleep, and Jade joins him, because that's what the English-Harley's love to do.

-

School starts up the Monday after opening night. Dave wakes up, once again, in a pile of sex puppets. He groans, rolls out of bed, and grabs clothes for the day. He opens his door, only to find more puppets blocking his way. The robots in Dirk's room awaken as a result of Dirk's muffled yelling caused by Dave kicking and throwing puppets into his room.

Dave is chased out of the hallway and into the bathroom by two robots, where he gets mauled by puppets one last time.

He takes a quick, cold shower, and grabs his clothes and shades from where he left them on the sink. He then tries to comb out his hair to make it look decent, but he decides, "Nah, fuck it," and walks out the door.

Rose is at the kitchen table, waiting for Dave to be finished, and holding her cat. When she sees Dave exit the bathroom, they look at each other and head to the car, in a silent agreement to grab breakfast on the way. Dave pays for the both of them with the money Dirk left on the counter, and they both order the same thing; coffee and an egg sandwich. (The both of them have become so close, that they have the same tastes for things. People always think they're twins. Sometimes even Dirk.)

-

They get to school and they're the coolest kids on the fucking block.

They walk beside each other casually—they won't admit that they're actually strutting— and get stares from many people.

John, on the other hand, is already at school, waiting on the staircase for Dave. He's incredibly excited to see his new friend that he's been texting for the past few days, but there are _groups_ of people trying to talk to him. He makes small conversation with all of them to be polite, while searching for a head of red and black hair. The crowd around him becomes bigger and bigger, his vision obscured, and then he sees it.

The red and black hair creep into his sight from the distance, beside a shorter head of white hair. He waits until they're closer, so he goes back to talking to his boring crowd of followers. Their questions don't stop, everyone closes in, and he can't see anything! He's not that tall, so everyone starts to block his view. His only clear sight is to his right, so he glances in that direction, and there they are; Dave in his red clothing, and Rose in her purples and blacks. He excuses himself quickly from the conversations and jogs over to them.

Rose and Dave are making light conversation, making fun of people in their small secret world, then John skips up to them, taking Dave's arm in his own.

"Seriousl– Oh, hey John."

Keep cool, stay casual, don't blush, Dave repeats to himself over and over. Rose smiles at John as a small greeting.

People start staring, but John doesn't pay attention to them.

"We seem to be attracting quite the crowd," Rose observes.

"Because people are dumb and boring and don't see cool people like us all the time," John tells her.

"That's a nice way to put it."

People are swarming up to the three them now, asking Rose and Dave about what it takes to talk to the amazing John Egbert. They ignore them though, the three talking among themselves, which gets the crowd staring at the cousins in awe. John is all smiles as they walk down to the gymnasium where an opening ceremony is being held.

"So, do you like the school so far?"

"Usually, I hate school, and from what you say about this school, it sounds awful. So, I'm not really sure how to answer this. Is this a trick question? Are you pulling some prank on me?"

Dave keeps on talking and talking to look casual. Rambling is completely normal for him, right? Rose doesn't seem to notice a change, so he _probably_ looks pretty casual.

"No! I just wanted to hear your thoughts on this godawful school."

Dave just snorts and continues walking to the gymnasium.

-

The presentation is long and boring to the students, and every one of them is fast asleep. The peppy and energetic speaker says, excitedly, "Now don't be late for class!"

Each student goes from sleeping, to confused about what woke them up so early, to processing that school has started, to _oh no what if I'm actually late for class!_ Half of the teachers watch in amusement; not even they know why there are presentations. The other half of the teachers are dozing off.

This school is a weird one.

(It started in _August_.)

But then the presentation ends, the teachers are trudging to their classrooms, and students are trudging to their homerooms, and the principal isn't seen throughout the whole day.

It's quite unfair.

Rose pinches the two boys to wake them up in the hallway. Dave's first reflex is to grab her wrist, and John's is to yelp and rub the abused area. People give her dirty stares and glares, but she gives them that small look of _I will probably fuck you up; you are now on my hit list_. Others stare at her in amazement, and the one girl in the green lipstick has a look not even Rose can put her finger on.

-

The rest of the day goes like this:

_Homeroom_

_Morning classes  
_

_Lunch_

_Afternoon classes_

_Freedom_

Homeroom is not much of a challenge. The three quickly sit in the back corner of the room, seated where no one else can sit beside or near John, unless they are sitting diagonal to him. The teacher greets John personally, and she also finds it strange that he's only talking to the two new students. She doesn't think much of it though.

Morning classes aren't as bad as the three thought they would be. John finds that each of his classes are with either Rose or Dave, and he silently thanks god for that and sits behind or in front of them. That doesn't stop people from considering it a victory when they get a seat beside him. They try to talk to him, but he says that they're currently in class, and that he doesn't want to miss anything.

Whenever he does this, Dave passes him notes, which makes the other students furious.

Rose finds herself entranced by the girl in green lipstick who sends certain looks her way.

The three of them get in trouble for talking in every class, even in their study halls.

They actually never said a word.

Lunch is infuriating. John is standing in line between Rose and Dave, and people constantly try to get all three of their attentions. They take a seat at an empty table, and a flood of people try to sit with them. The three comply, though; it would be quite impolite to shoo them away, or move to a different seat. Rose finds it amusing, Dave finds it incredibly obnoxious, and John is pretending he enjoys everyone's company.

Afternoon classes are similar to the morning ones, except there's one class where John is not protected by his two new friends. He's bombarded with questions considering Rose and Dave, how his summer was, if he's joining the soccer or football team this year, but then most of the questions come back to Rose and Dave.

Rose and Dave are also separated in this period.

Rose finds it incredibly distracting when the girl in front of her chews on the tip of her pencil. She also finds it distracting when she sees her lipstick smear on the eraser. The other girls try to get Rose's attention, but she's mesmerized by the way the girl in front of her casts a glance her way, and they lock eyes. Even for just a split second.

Dave is just a lost puppy without John, covering it up with cold, hard ice.

"What's your name?" ask twenty thousand people.

"Dave," he says simply and moves on.

They trail behind him, asking questions about where he's from, if he has a phone number, if he plays sports.

He stops in his long walk to the desk in the corner of the room.

Everyone freezes.

It's probably the effect of his coldness.

"From Texas. I run track and play soccer. I have a phone, and the only contacts I need or want are John and my siblings."

He continues to his seat, and the teacher makes Dave his new favorite student.

The trio is inseparable the rest of the day, and Dave drives all of them home, dropping off John at his house and waving goodbye.

-

But before much of this happened, we take you to the English-Harley household. It's twelve o'clock, and Dirk is invited over for lunch. He agreed, of course, for the sole reason of wanting to get into Jake's heart (pants). But Dirk is oblivious to the bet that Rose and Dave had made a month before, as much as Jake is oblivious to mostly everything. Jake's house is basically the exact same as Dirk's, but once inside, it has a much more grand feeling to it. Around the table are simple sandwiches, and a choice of juices.

They talk for a long time over a small lunch, Dirk flirting occasionally, and Jake not picking up on his obvious pickup lines. Jake seems to be having a good time, and his feelings are now clear that he, in fact, does have romantic feelings towards Dirk. But it makes him feel quite nervous.

They go to Dirk's house, so he can show off his newest robot. But it's when they're sitting on the couch, watching some random cooking show, that Jake does finally realize Dirk's intentions of flirting, after ten pickup lines (But who's counting? Dirk was).

"Dirk, are you implying-?"

"Took long enough for you to realize." He scoots closer to Jake, whispering in his ear like the cliche man he is. "So are you in, or not?"

-

We now go back to where we left our trio; John is at his door, waving goodbye to the other two, as the truck pulls out of the driveway. They drive the short distance home, exhausted from their first day of school. Dave is the first one to get inside, and when he does, he holds out his hand to Rose and snaps. Rose looks confused at the hand, but then looks up to where that hand is now pointing.

The couch.

Dave won the bet.

"Twenty dollars, Lalonde."

She groans and pulls a twenty out of her wallet.

-

The rest of the week goes by considerably fast, but very similar to the first day. Each of them are popular for their own small reasons. John is just John, and everyone seems to love John; Dave is the new cool kid who is bored half the time; Rose is incredible at everything from academics to sports to art to music, but she joins the _book_ club.

John and Dave join the soccer team and become captains on the second day. They find themselves equally matched with skill, but Dave is faster and stronger, while John moves quicker and trickier. They become the best of friends by the end of the first week of school.

And two weeks later, girls start asking them out. Dave coldly declines each and everyone of them.

"I don't have time for this shit," is what he says each time. They don't ever learn though; they think he's playing hard to get, when in reality, he's just gay as fuck and now with a big crush on John Egbert.

John, on the other hand, declines "politely."

"I'm sorry. I just don't think I can be good enough for you. You deserve better than me!" is his answer each time. He usually walks away, leaving them gaping while he walks away and snickers with Dave.

Rose doesn't hide her sexuality, though. She does become the "coolest lesbian ever." It's shocking to see how many girls actually don't mind changing in front of her. She never makes moves on anyone, and everyone knows that; she only has eyes for the girl in the green lipstick. Kanaya is her name.

-

"Sooooo, Rose," her new friend, Jade, says at lunch one day. (Jade quickly became friends with the trio, but she usually hangs out with the other students.)

"Yes, Jade?"

"I see you looking at Kanaya, and… Do you like her?"

Rose sighs. "Well, I guess you can say that. She fascinates me to no end, and even I can't read her."

"You should go talk to her! Maybe you can get to know her."

"I will keep your advice in mind. Thank you, Jade."

And they go back to eating.

John and Dave sit at the other side of the table, planning their next prank. They're thinking along the lines of sparkles and goo. They've become the biggest shitheads during the last few weeks, getting good grades and pranking teachers while framing someone else for it. They've become quite good at covering everything up.

They get in trouble this time though, but not for any of the other pranks. They sit in the principal's office, trying not to laugh while waiting for their consequences. They get suspended from playing soccer for a week. It's fine though, because there's only one game that week, but they pretend to take it seriously and lecture the whole team for that one, non-important game. Their team hasn't lost any games yet, and they're not starting now.

"–And I swear to god, if you lose this game," Dave says. He doesn't finish his sentence and just shakes his head, along with John.

The whole team's heads are down, focusing and looking scared. It's pretty amusing to the two of them.

Dave drives to John's house to stay over for the night (Rose has a ride home with Jade), and they just laugh and make fun of the team's reactions.

They play a bunch of video games, eat a lot of food, and wrestle until they're too tired to do anything else. Dave plops down on John's chest, and they pass out.

This is how they spend the rest of the summer season.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some buildup and some smooching

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was actually just getting tired of this sitting in my folder so I finished it and here we go.
> 
> A last hurrah before school starts

The summer heat slowly deteriorates, as the cooler winds near. The leaves on the trees turn to warm colors, and sales on new jackets go up. School supposedly starts in the fall, but usually it's still hot outside. The cooler weather comes a month later in the school year, and autumn seems to be Dave's favorite time of year; the red is beautiful, the heat dies down, and he can finally sit at the park and take pictures in decent weather.

The colder seasons' sunsets are the most gorgeous, colored pink, orange, purple, red, and blue, and you can go on and on, naming every specific color of any seasons sunset, but no one has time for that. It is best if one sits back, and enjoys the sunset in the moment. But it is also quite nice if one takes a picture of the sunset, keeping it for a rainy day.

It was because of this, that Dave decided to take his camera and see the sunsets for himself.

He's alone in the park, the wind tossing his hair lightly, and it's one of the rare times he feels at peace (School can be pretty overwhelming, especially for those who don't necessarily enjoy attention or people in general). Children are playing in the distance, birds fly overhead, and Dave walks to his secret place where he likes to take pictures. He sits on the ground, trees covering his location for anyone to spot him, waiting for the sun to set. When the sun lowers, he takes pictures from different angles, capturing the colors that change and mix with each minute.

The last few moments of the sunset are saved for himself to enjoy, so he puts his camera in the small bag that he brought, and starts heading back to his house with the colorful sunset above him. John's house is on the way back, and he's sitting on the porch, so Dave waves to him, and he enthusiastically waves back—which Dave finds _incredibly_ cute.

He wouldn't tell anyone this, though.

He also wouldn't tell about the small things he notices about John, like the way his hair is some kind of neat mess, or how his eyes become magically bluer in the light, or the way he smiles when he's about to pull a magic trick or a prank, or how beautifully his hands skim across the piano, or how he has a giant crush on him.

The list of things Dave won't tell anyone is a long one; it could go on and on, but no one has time for that, like how no one has the time to name all the specific colors of the sunset. It's best if he sit back, and just enjoy these things he notes about John, like the colors of the sunset, instead of getting technical. Technicality is for studying, homework, creating, et cetera. Technicality is for the things that Dave does not enjoy. The list can go further with the things that Dave does not enjoy, but he doesn't realize that his mind is actually quite technical, and he doesn't realize that he keeps these small things treasured.

John seems to be on the same boat. He notices small things about Dave, too; the way he pushes his hair back with his right hand instead of flipping it to the side, how long his eyelashes are when he takes off his sunglasses, how his eyes look like fire when the light hits them right, and how he's just tall enough that if John were to kiss him, he'd have to stand on his toes. But these aren't things that one's best friend is usually supposed to notice about the other. It dawned upon John that he started sporting a crush on Dave in the past few weeks, that crush increasingly growing bigger and bigger to the point of being almost unbearable. Every single thing he notices about Dave, he treasures. He doesn't mind being technical about it, as long as only he knows.

The both of them are oblivious to the other, not wanting to ruin a perfectly good friendship.

Championship game was the hardest for them to control themselves. They hugged tightly at the end of the game—John scored the winning goal with an assist from Dave—but they felt something else. Together, they held the trophy high, both with a burning need for each other, and both reveling in the fact that their fingers were slightly touching along the trophy, even only for that small moment.

They find themselves hugging more, hugs lasting just a second too long to be considered normal; they also cuddle more, using the excuse of having a platonic friendship so great, that they can do whatever they please. But a platonic relationship is not what either of them honestly wish for; they live with it, so that no one gets hurt. (Although, neither of them would truly get hurt. The feeling is mutual in all honesty.)

When Dave does get home, the sun has set completely. He completes his small amount of homework, plugs his phone in, and passes out on his bed, not bothering to think about the pictures he took or how there's still food leftover from his siblings' dinner.

-

Unlike the confused and messy relationships of his brother and cousin, Dirk is having the time of his life; Jake is a great boyfriend for him. They sit on the couch, Jake halfway on Dirks lap, talking about random things happening, the television buzzing in the background.

"But in all seriousness, that scene was completely unnecessary," Jake says, cradling his head into the crook of Dirk's neck.

"Yeah. Basically most sex scenes are unnecessary. I mean, unless the whole movie is about sex, then I'm not one to say anything."

"I agree completely."

Dirk plays with his hair.

"Speaking of sex..."

"Not really feeling it right now, Strider. Sorry."

"Is it alright if we make out like teenagers then?"

"Yes, of course."

And that's how Jake ends up writhing in Dirk's lap, with so many hickeys that he later runs out of concealer and has to make Dirk buy some.

"Dude, just show 'em off. They make you look pretty."

"I love you so so _so_ much, but you can be quite a pain in the ass, Dirk," Jake replies, trying to shove him out the door with all his might.

Dirk ends up going after ten minutes of Jake refusing to leave his house to go to the general store.

-

 _She's been wearing more black_ , Rose notices. It's probably considered wrong to keep staring at the tall, dark haired girl, but the now readable and _suggestive_ looks she sends are quite maddening. It's been weeks, perhaps months, since Jade's suggestion to Rose. She isn't really counting the days honestly, but good god, Kanaya looks absolutely _gorgeous_ in black.

She's sitting at a lunch table in Rose's vision, drinking from a juice box in a way that looks almost harsh but is terrifyingly distracting. Rose doesn't notice someone calling her name from her own table, but when Kanaya flicks her tongue on the straw, she stands up quickly, almost pounding her hands on the table. The people at her table look at her in shock, but she maintains eye contact with the black-haired girl—who is also quite shocked—, saying, " _Bathroom_ ," through gritted teeth. Rose rushes to the empty bathroom, locking herself in the closest and darkest stall, then leaning back against the wall.

The door to the empty bathroom opens, and there's calm footstep clicks.

"Rose?" Kanaya says, with a hint of mischievousness in her voice. Rose opens the door, drags Kanaya in, and shuts the door quickly, while Kanaya busies herself with cornering the white-haired girl.

Rose can't help but finally feel pleased with her life.

-

They do become friends, sharing the same interests such as dark lipstick, short haircuts, books, vampires, and dark themes.

Rose is completely attentive to how Kanaya talks about Rose's stunning fashion choices. Kanaya goes on to tell her about how she loves the fashion industry and will not buy clothes from a local store. She only buys from the best and gets her dresses tailored.

Rose talks about how she loves cats and playing the violin, which she demonstrates to the other girl (and apparently, the violin makes her feel quite relaxed). They watch their vampire dramas together, and end up making out on the couch (which they both enjoy incredibly).

-

The fall wasn't quite eventful. After all, it only consisted of two boys pining for each other, a different type of relationship created between two girls in black, and more sleepovers. The winter made itself known quickly, for the fall was short this year and it snowed very early. Winter was the time for snow storms, birthdays, and Christmas among other things.

Dave, Rose, Dirk, John, and Jake sit in a circle in the Strider-and-one-Lalonde household, bearing gifts for Dave and Rose. The two started celebrating their birthdays at the same time, for it took too much effort to throw separate parties (The Striders were never ones to put much effort into things; they were a naturally smart people, and if something were to be too complex and boring, even for their minds, it would just be completely dropped).

Rose starts opening her presents first. The problem with having so few people at a birthday party is that each person has to bring a gift that wows the others (quality over quantity). If there were more people, dozens of gifts from the dollar store would be thrown about (quantity over quality).

Her present from Dave is a toy wizard cat that fits in her palm and her present from Dirk is a new violin and laptop with random stickers on the side. She gives them both small hugs.

Now the other two, John and Jake, had to ask advice for what Rose sincerely likes. It was tough, considering that they haven't known her for long, but their presents were amazing otherwise. Jake's gift to her was a small, personally customized skeleton of Cerberus, while John's was a spiked headband, along with spiked leather gloves to match the ones that Dirk wears. Both of their presents get laughs but sincere thanks all the same.

Dave's presents are easier for them to get because he likes anything, as long as it's red (if possible), really cool, or something he can use every day.

It was easy for John to pick out a present for Dave, and he made two trays of brownies, one for everyone and one for just Dave. He also made a shitty sweater that says Dave's name with sloppy strings hanging out from each letter. Rose finds it horrendous and gives Dave her gift, which is a new backpack and a knitted blanket. Dirk doesn't give Dave a computer as he gave Rose (Dave's laptop was already new enough), but instead, gives him two new guitars and a new phone. Jake's gift to him is a set of jars with small skeletons of things inside them. No one bothers to ask where he gets all his skeletons.

The rest of the day is spent playing video games and eating brownies.

School is torture, though, because everyone seems to greet Rose and Dave a happy birthday for the next whole week and a half.

-

"Talk to him about your feelings, Dave," says Rose for about the seventh time.

"I can't, Rose."

It was hard for Dave to cope with his feelings for John, as hard as it was for John to cope with his feelings for Dave. But neither of them know that. Dave's weekend was spent cuddling John in a giant blanket on the couch, watching a movie, and up popped a boner! It was barely anything, but it was enough for him to sit up straight and head to the bathroom, leaving John very confused and Dirk hunched over trying not to laugh.

"If you continue this, you'll end up being a giant train wreck. Are you acting like this because of what happened on Saturday?"

"How did you kno–"

"I have my ways. Now, go talk to him."

"No," he says stubbornly, which gets Rose's angry eyebrow to twitch.

She'll probably just talk to John about it—she's been texting him ever since she found out about the romantic feelings between the both of them. She decided that she will not waste her time getting them together, but instead, try to get them to comprehend their feelings and get a mutual understanding. Maybe put up boundaries?

But Rose is not paid for this job that she set herself up with, so she decides to leave them alone and become that train wreck.

-

Christmas is a nicer event, but that goes by quickly (without erections).

John's dad invited the English-Harley's, the Striders, and the Lalonde's—plural because Roxy was visiting—over for Christmas.

Dave and Dirk get in their warmest clothes, for they hate the cold weather, and Rose wears a simple sweater and warm leggings. Roxy goes all out, wearing her biggest and warmest jacket, two layers of pants, and two pairs of socks. All of them scramble to get their boots on, eagerly waiting to get out of their warm and now sweaty house.

They rehearse their little jingle to sing for when they arrive at the Egbert household one last time, and waddle into Dirk's truck. When they get there, Roxy and Dirk shove little speakers into their pockets, and Rose hooks up her phone to them.

They get to the door in their formation, Dirk and Roxy on either side of Dave, and Rose watching in the back. Dave knocks on the door twice and rings the doorbell.

And as he predicted, John and Jake open up the door.

John starts, "Hi Dave! And what—"

Rose hits play and the music begins.

"I don't want a lot for Christmas—" Dave begins, pointing at John.

John turns red and shoves his face into his hands.

"There is just one thing I need—" Dirk continues, hands raised towards Jake.

Jake mutters a _dear god_ , and joins John.

By the end of the first verse, the four are forced inside the house, all the while dancing like they're hyped up on mini packs of sugar. They all take off their oversized sweaters and sit by the fire, shivering.

"So, whose idea was that?" John asks, joining the four by the fire.

They all point to Dave and his face turns redder than his eyes.

"Well, Bro wanted to give English another present," he mumbles into his scarf.

They all snort at him, and Jake comes into the room to sit beside Dirk.

"Davey's lyin' again," Roxy whispers to John. "Look at him all blushin' an' shit. He only saves that for his crushes."

She nudges him with her elbow, and his eyes go wide. Dave turns back to look at them.

"Holy shit, you met him literally a _minute_ ago and now he's broken. Rox, you broke him."

"Heh, totally did. I'm gonna go spike the eggnog now. Don't tell Pops," she says directed at John and tiptoes to the kitchen.

"What did she do to you?"

"I'm not sure."

They sit beside each other, in front of the fire, pinkies overlapped from where they're resting on the ground.

-

New Year's is a different story.

A huge party is being thrown where everyone in the neighborhood was invited to, and that mostly consists of drunk white trash and guys and girls sloppily making out.

It's basically everything that Dave hates.

"John. Let's get the fuck outta here."

"What? Dave, no! This is a _party_ , where you are supposed to _party_."

"I can tell you aren't enjoying everyone playing tonsil hockey and getting tipsy. Let's go to the park or some shit." To talk. He needed to talk.

John eventually agrees, and they sneak out of the building and into the park with a stolen bottle of wine and a text to all relatives that they'll be at the other's house. They hike to a place where they'll have a clear view of the town, far away from everyone else, on a mountain where Dave likes to take pictures sometimes. There's a small mountain-cliff overlooking the whole neighborhood, and they both take seats with their legs sprawled out.

John finds out that he is apparently scared of heights. Dave keeps his arm around the boy, assuring him that nothing bad will happen, that it's not that far from the ground. It does get him to calm down. Especially the warmth of Dave's body against his side, and the hand rubbing soothing circles on his shoulder.

They hear the countdown cheers from afar, and see the fireworks set off, both of them taking a swig of cheap wine. The fireworks are huge and bright, lighting up the whole town in each color of the rainbow, shining on the faces of the two boys, even in the mountains.

It takes barely half of the bottle to get them giggling and cuddling against the cold.

The both of them stare at each other, but neither of them mind, for the feeling is mutual. The fireworks shoot in the distance illuminating the two of them, the night sky, and John's arm now around Dave's neck. Their foreheads touch gently—nervously, and Dave tilts his head slightly, capturing the other's bottom lip with his. John sighs and relaxes into him, kissing back, feeling fuzzy from everything that's happening.

Their first kiss ever is on a mountain on New Year's day, completely finishing a bottle of cheap wine that they stole from a party, trying to stay warm in each other's embrace, and not paying attention to the fireworks but rather to how the other's lips feels on theirs and how good it feels to finally be in each other's arms, and how everything is just completely perfect.

It's all sadly forgotten by the next morning, when they wake up curled around each other, as usual, inside Dave's room in the afternoon. They seem to convince themselves that it was a dream from how fuzzy they remember it.

They would agree that it was a very nice dream, if they ever told each other.

And they would _never_ tell each other of the _other_ dreams they have.

They can only think of each other for months, imagining it's the other's hand instead of his own, wondering what he feels like, thinking about what his face would look like, but in reality, they're just horny and desperate for contact with the other person specifically. They find themselves up late at night, under the covers, secretly searching their phones for pictures of the other, only having the patience to finish in five minutes, guilt occasionally nagging them into stopping.

-

It's when Dave is invited to play on a spring soccer team that he realizes that literally everyone knows of their strange relationship that isn't _exactly_ a relationship.

"Here's the signup sheet for the team. Just add your own phone number on the side. Also, invite your boyfriend! He can really help the team a lot," one of the players says.

This occurs more than once, on different occasions.

"Hey, Dave! You're invited to my party on Sunday! Bring John if you want to," another person says.

Again.

"Is he coming to the bonfire? Y'know, your boytoy? We need to know the amount of people for the marshmallows."

And again.

"If you're too busy with John right now, that's alright. We can find another person to play the guitar."

It drives Dave up the _wall_ that he can't admit his obvious feelings to John, and that John is oblivious to his feelings. They both end up joining the spring team, though. And that is plain torture.

John always studies Dave, like the way he brings his hand to his eyes when he laughs really hard, or how often he gets his hair done, how his shorts ride up when he runs, and how his lips look when he drinks his apple juice, and how his lips would look like somewhere else… And he can't control the guilt that pools in his stomach when he thinks of Dave in this way.

Every practice is spent side by side, ignoring how cute the other looks in long sleeved shirts, or how water drips from the side of their mouth when they drink too fast and desperately, or how their shoes match their eyes, even though no one sees Dave's.

And they both find it plain awful and guilty that they feel this way without telling the other.

Each game is won with a nervous hug between the both of them, but high fives to their team and the others. School is still pretty normal, besides the comments of them supposedly dating.

Prom dates were a different problem altogether.

Dave didn't know what to do. Neither did John. As much as they honestly wanted to go together, they felt the need to go with someone else. The two girls that asked them were honestly surprised when they said yes.

So they arrive at the school in Dave's truck, in the cheapest rentable suits they could find (they don't want to spend so much on something they would hate to do), looking as dapper and charming if they had shown up in expensive suits, but feeling utterly horrible.

They meet up with their dates and sit at the same table, not paying attention at all to their partners, but instead, paying attention to each other ever so slightly, silent to the fact that they're sitting so close that their thighs touch.

They refuse to take pictures with their partners.

It's when John's date squeezes the leg that Dave's isn't touching, that John jolts upright, and Dave has to hold back a glare.

"Shit, bathroom," the blue-eyed boy says, looking completely terrified.

His date _smiles_ up at him while he walks away.

After five minutes of him being gone, she gets up to go check on him.

"Oh _fuck_ no. Nononononono. I'm gonna check on him. And if you lay another hand on him, I'll get Rose to rip you to shreds," Dave says, in a quite passive aggressive tone, smiling at the end of his sentence. "Be right back."

She shuts up and stares at him wide-eyed as he walks away and into the bathroom.

He finds him at the sink, typing into his phone. "John?"

"Oh, uh, hey."

"Are you alright?" he asks, tangling his hand in the other's hair. (They'd gotten quite used to this.)

"Yeah, I think. I just really didn't want that to happen. I don't think I wanted to even come here."

"You wanna ditch, then?"

"What?"

"Let's ditch."

It takes John a moment before he decides, "Yeah. Okay."

Dave takes him by the arm, and they secretly head out one of the doors leading to the parking lot. They go unnoticed, pretending to be ninjas all the way to the car.

They drive aimlessly for a while and end up going to a tacky ice cream shop in the most awful suits, barely having enough money to cover the two ice creams they bought. They go back to driving aimlessly again, ending up on the mountain that they had gone to on New Year's day.

They remember the kiss, but had convinced themselves that it was only a dream, and perhaps a prophecy that they might kiss on this prom night, away from everyone, whilst wearing the nastiest of suits.

It doesn't happen, though, considering that the two of them were too scared to make any move.

-

But it's the spring championship game, like New Year's day, that they'd share another kiss.

The field is one of the nicer ones in the strangely large town—it's not turf, but the grass is cut very nicely—, fresh white lines on the field, along with the familiar and comforting scent of nasty paint. Four stadium lights surround the field, one in each corner, and the sun is setting off to the side, in all its familiar oranges and pinks among other colors.

The way that Dave stands is incredibly majestic to John; his frame against the sunset with the cold winds tossing his hair about.

The whole game is mostly a blur. There's a ball. John is probably kicking it. He's not sure. He's only paying attention to how Dave yells his name from the other side of the goal, and how when he finally snaps back to reality, everything is loud, there's cheering, Dave looks incredibly happy above him, a whistle is blowing, and the scoreboard that says 1-0 and 00:00 buzzes loudly. Dave looks happy, so he smiles.

Then he realizes he's on the ground.

"Dude, holy shit John. That was the coolest thing I've ever seen with my own eyes, just fucking kiss me like right now," Dave says excitedly, helping him up.

John wishes he could.

He gets dozens of hugs from everyone, Dave being his main priority. The trophy is held by the both of them, lingering on the fact that their hands are touching, once again.

The trophy is put down, and in Dave's excitement, he holds John's face in his hands, John looking up at him with the same amount of excitement, and he kisses him. It's soft and energetic and electric, and it feels like heaven. And, wow, if John were expecting that, he'd be kissing right back, right away. But the problem is that he wasn't expecting it, and when he's about to kiss back, Dave is quickly pulling away.

"Oh fuck—I'm so—," is all he can say before he's sprinting to his truck and driving away, leaving John alone in the middle of the field. Dave was his ride home.

The lights above John are bright, contrasting to the night sky, making the field and its lights feel like they're the only things that are real in a never ending void, and that Dave just escaped into a dark forever. He stands there, feeling alone on the sidelines, but not truly alone, trophy in hand as he just gapes. The whole team is gaping, John is gaping, they're pretty sure the other team is gaping, and John makes a break for home.

He has the whole town memorized so he keeps running. His stuff is left at the soccer field, but someone will grab it, along with Dave's, but he doesn't want to think of Dave right now. He thinks about the way it's dark outside, how his eyes aren't yet adjusted to the dark, and how the lights on the field were comforting and bright. He thinks about how his legs are tired from the game, but he keeps running anyway. He remembers the game, and how he scored in the last seconds of it, and how Dave looked so happy that he kissed him, and no! Don't think about Dave!

He licks his lips while running through the cold air, which was probably a huge mistake. He remembers the kiss this time, unlike the one during New Year's, and he starts crying.

The night air is cold, making it harder for John to breathe, away from the away from the warm lights that helped him, and if you have asthma, you know, probably, that it is very complicated to run in the cold. It's even more complicated to run tired in the cold, your legs about to give out, whilst crying (speaking from experience).

He slows down on the sidewalk, coming to a complete halt, legs shaking, and John choking on his own breath. His eyes get watery, and his chest hurts, and he's panting but it doesn't feel like air reaches his lungs. It's when the tears flow harder out of his eyes, that a familiar car pulls up to him.

"Holy shit, John?"

He looks up from where he's sitting, to see Dirk on the other side of the car, quickly rushing over to his aid.

"Are you alright? What happened?"

John just smiles a small broken and cold smile, replying that nothing happened, he's fine, and he can get home by himself. But Dirk isn't one to take bullshit from anyone. especially when that someone is running and crying in the middle of the sidewalk, in soccer cleats, shorts, long socks, and a varsity jacket too large for him, while having an asthma attack.

"Not taking shit from you today, dude," he says. "Let's get you home."

John nods silently, and lets Dirk help him up into the car.

The drive is generally short, and Dirk constantly tries to get answers out of him, but it doesn't really work.

He puts himself under John's arm and helps him out of the car and into the house, where his dad is looking very worried.

"He's just really tired right now. I'll help him into the bathroom and grab a set of clothes for him. Then I'll be on my way."

He does just that, and John thanks him quietly.

"And hey kid, try to fix things up with my bro. He's completely miserable, and I guess you are too."

And he walks out the bathroom, out of the Egbert household, and into his car.

John's shower is longer than it really is supposed to be.

-

"What did you do this time?"

"Bro, it's nothing. Fuck off," says Dave from under his blankets.

"Well, I found him crying on the sidewalk, so you're gonna have to spill."

That gets him to jolt upright from under his blankets.

"You what."

"Holy Jesus you look awful, and you heard me. 'M pretty sure he was having an asthma attack. He had an inhaler in his _large jacket_ though. Now, spill."

"Ugh, fuck. So maybe I was excited and I kissed him and made a huge deal about it." Dave rests his head on his brother's back. The jacket was his. "Is he okay?"

"Wow. And, no, he is not okay. He cried his way to the bathroom and wouldn't say a word."

"Oh fuck."

"Yeah so you're gonna have to fix this."

"Shit goddamn."

It takes days before he actually has to talk to John. Spring break arrives the week after the game, and he uses it to lock himself in his room. He grabs a bag of Cheetos and his biggest bottle of apple juice, locking his door and watching chick flicks.

John does the same, but he stays on his computer, eating gummy bears and watching his favorite movies to forget everything that happened.

The silence is way too much for everybody, so Rose and Papa Egbert devise a plan.

Egbert unlocks John's door at three in the afternoon where he's sleeping.

"Dad, go _away_."

"No, I don't think I will."

He drags him by the ear, all the way to Rose's house. Rose salutes him and drags John up to Dave's room, unlocking it and shoving John onto Dave where he's yelling under the covers.

"Rose–"

"No. Make up. Or make out, I don't care, just do something. If you come out, Kanaya will suck your blood and turn you into a vampire," she says, walking out the door and slamming it shut.

The bad thing about this warning is that John actually believes her.

When he turns around, he's met face to face with the red-haired boy.

"Um," John says.

"No, ugh fuck. Sorry about the thing. It was really in the moment, and I should've considered your feelings, and I'm scared that you'll hate me forever, but I don't want to ever stop being friends with you because you're awesome and shit. Really though, can we forget that all of this happened maybe?" Dave blurts out, faster than he expected.

"No."

"What? No no no, you can't hold this against me, John _please_ -"

"Dave, you idiot, I meant that in a good way."

"What?"

" _Dave_."

John takes his face in both hands, albeit rather nervous and shakily, and he kisses him lightly.

"Fuck."

Their lips slide against each other's, feeling oddly familiar, but not quite. This is new. This isn't that much different than their first kiss, drunk off of cheap wine on New Year's. But they don't remember that one. This one is not fuzzy in their minds, it's clear. It's electric almost. It feels genuine. They both try hard to burn the memory into their minds.

Their second kiss, which they still think is their first, was out of pure excitement and adrenaline from winning a game and feeling completely entranced. Their third kiss, which they think is their second, was in Dave's room, after a forced confession, which ended up being good for them.

And by god, was it a great confession.

-

The spring was the most eventful of all the seasons, all three relationships fixed to exactly how everyone wanted them, and nothing could be better. But the late spring is full of sunsets that do not please Dave, Rose, or Dirk. The spring was colorful, to make up for it, and the three had partners that seemed to be perfect for each of them.

Dave holds John's hand to school every day, countering glares from jealous girls with a fiercer and colder stare; Rose stays side by side with Kanaya the whole day; Jake stays at Dirk's place when Dirk is bored at home, having nothing else to do.

-

"Hey, you wanna ditch next period?" John asks.

"Well, this is new."

"Shut up, Dave. I have a bunch of secret hiding places where we can make out," he says with an added eyebrow wiggle.

"Hmm... Eager much? Sure, I'll make out with you in some sketchy shack you found in fourth grade. Sounds cultivated."

"No, hush! This place is not a shack, it's better. Now let's go."

He grabs the Dave's arm, waiting until the hallway clears out, and then they both make a break for the doorway.

The place John brings them to is a very old pirate ship playground, probably three-quarters of a mile away from everyone. Dave convinces himself that it's haunted and that they won't find it again if they come tomorrow.

"This looks like a ship wreck."

"It's cool though! Come inside. It's even better. Also, shades off."

They squeeze through the door and when Dave gets in, he takes off his shades and corners John.

"You promised make outs? Is it better in here because we will eventually make out?"

"Mmhmm. Yeah totally."

"Awesome," he barely whispers, the space between them decreasing slowly. He licks his own bottom lip, knowing full well what it does to John, and he watches how his magically blue eyes flicker from Dave's eyes to his lips.

John is the one to kiss him first, without Dave realizing that the other's hands were already tangled in his hair. They kiss fiercely and recklessly, still trying to figure out what to do, but battling for the upper hand, which Dave gets every time and John won't admit. Dave swipes his tongue across John's lip, which makes him gasp and shiver, so he shoves his tongue in John's mouth, tasting him and exploring the familiar shape of his mouth (for they'd had many make outs already). John whimpers and moans quietly in a way that Dave considers it a victory.

-

Who knows how many times they've made out? That doesn't really matter, as their only important kisses were probably their first few ones. But their new kisses get hotter and sweatier—not really in the sexual way, but rather in the way it gets hotter outside as the summer nears once again. The end of school usually means finals, and finals are what everyone hates.

John, Dave, and Rose all hate finals, but surprisingly, they've actually never gotten grades lower than an 87. They all stay up late at the Egbert household, with dozens of books and papers scattered around John's bed, trying not to fall asleep on each other. Rose had a good hold on the other two who are cuddling on the pillows. Whenever one of them closed their eyes for more than five seconds, she threw an ice cube at them.

But the ice cubes are melted in their bucket, and it all becomes water, for the air conditioning had stopped working in everyone's households, and they're only being cooled by a small fan from the window. The papers around the bed aren't neat, but at least are arranged so they won't fly around the room. Each paper shudders when a stronger breeze of air moves them, but they're held down by blankets, books, and pillows.

The three get drowsy at around one in the morning—Dave lazily petting John's head as he's laying on his chest, "reading" a book, and Rose staring at papers with useless words on them at John's feet with her fingers lazily spinning the remaining ice water in the bucket.

"Why is it so hot?" John whines to no one in particular.

"'Cause—" Dave yawns, "—'Cause I'm in here."

Rose puts her papers down and dries off her wrinkly fingers on the blankets.

" _Sleep_ ," she says. "Sleep sounds good."

John gets in the most uncomfortable position on top of his boyfriend, trying to not lay on the papers, and Rose rests her head on John's legs, doing the same. The two are the first to fall asleep, and Dave drifts off after reaching over everything to turn off the lights.

-

Summer break, along with the heat, also meant vacation.

The last day of school had passed, and the trio sits around a bonfire at Jade's house, along with herself and Kanaya.

"So what are you guys doing for the summer?" John asks.

"Nothing really. Might visit a few colleges, but I was planning on spending time with you," Dave says, wrapping an arm around him.

"Haha, gay," Jade says from the other side of the fire. "I'm gonna be going to my hometown! And in August, I'm gonna be looking into some colleges."

"Well, I was planning on going to LA, but I don't think I want to leave Rose here," Kanaya says.

"Oh! Well actually, Dirk has a vacation planned out for us the whole summer. So maybe we can video chat from our respective states."

Dave almost drops the bag of marshmallows.

"Hey! Be careful with that," Jade scolds.

"Oh, well I guess it all works out then," Kanaya says.

"He _what_?"

He glares a million daggers into Rose's eyes. She looks amused.

"We wanted it to be a surprise for you, but I guess it was a… bad surprise."

"Where the fuck are we even going?"

Dave doesn't notice this, but the arm around John holds him as if he were trying to protect him.

"Texas."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *ghost noises* oooooh shitty cliffhanger what are we gonna dooooooooo

**Author's Note:**

> Mmmm trans Kanaya yeah.
> 
> I thought this was only like 4,000 words but apparently not?
> 
> Also!!!!! I imagine that Dirk is unlabeled and Dave calls literally everything gay. They are also Korean.
> 
> I said I'd get this chapter out last week, so I apologize for taking so long!!!!! I'll also try getting the sexy vampire fic updated soon :-ooo


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